Timeline of the History of Belgrade
| Historical period |
Events |
| Starčevo culture |
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| Vinča culture |
- 5500–4500 BCE: Vinča culture is born in what is today Belgrade's suburb of Vinča. Within the coming two millennia it evolves into a dominant neolithic culture in Europe, especially influencing the Balkans. Sometimes this era is called the First Golden Age of Belgrade. By 3000 BC Vinča culture disperses into several sub-cultures.
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| Barbarian invasions |
|
| Roman Empire |
|
| Eastern Roman Empire |
- 395: Singidunum becomes a northwestern frontier city of the Eastern Roman Empire after the death of Theodosius I (r. 379–395)
|
| Iranian/
Germanic/
Hunnic
invasions 5th century
|
- 441: The Huns destroy the city. Attila resides in the city.
- 450: Sarmatians are holding Singidunum.
- 470: The Ostrogoths expel the Sarmatians.
- 476: Western Roman Empire collapses. The city becomes a border-town towards the hostile Germanic tribes.
- 488: The Gepids conquer Singidunum.
- 504: The Goths capture it again.
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| Byzantine/
Frankish rule/
Serbian arrival
6–9th centuries
|
- 510: A peace treaty handed over the city to the Byzantine Empire.
- 535: Byzantine emperor Justinian I rebuilds Singidunum.
- 584: The Avars conquer and sack it.
- 592: Byzantine Empire regains the city.
- 7th century: The Avars destroy it again.
- 630: The Slavs conquer Singidunum.
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| Byzantine/
Bulgarian/ Hungarian rule
9th–11th centuries
|
- 827: The Bulgarians control the fortress. The city is called by Western sources Alba Bulgarica.
-
Frankish Empire temporary annexes Taurunum, today's northern Belgrade.
- 16 April 878: First known written record of the Slavic name Beligrad.
- 896: Army of Hungarians attack Belgrade.
- 1018: The Byzantine emperor Basil II seizes Belgrade from the Bulgarian Empire. Occasional clashes with Hungary.
- 1072: Belgrade was retaken by Byzantine Empire.
- 1096: The city was destroyed by Hungarians, but the Byzantine Empire remained in control of it.
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| Hungarian/Byzantine/Bulgarian rule 11th–12th centuries |
- 1096–1189: The Crusaders are passing through Belgrade.
- 1127: Hungarian king Stefan II destroys Belgrade and used the obtained stones to build a fortress in Zemun.
- 1154: Byzantine emperor Manuel I Comnenus destroys Zemun and takes the stones back to rebuild Belgrade.
- 1182: Hungary attack and sacked the city.
- 1185: Byzantine Empire regained it by diplomacy but loses to the newly reestablished Bulgarian Empire.
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| Serbian/Hungarian/Bulgarian rule 13th century |
- 1202: The Hungarians seize Belgrade.
- 1203: The Bulgarians retake the city.
- 1213: The city is given to Hungary by emperor Boril.
- 1221: Belgrade is returned to Bulgaria.
- 1246: The city becomes part of Hungary.
- 1284: The Hungarians gift to the Serbian king Stefan Dragutin; this is the first time that Belgrade comes under Serbian rule.
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| Hungarian rule 14th–16th centuries |
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| Ottoman/Austrian rule 16th–19th centuries |
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| Ottoman/Serbian rule 1804–1878 |
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| Serbian rule 1878–1914 |
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| Austro-Hungarian/Serbian rule 1914–18 |
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| Kingdom of Serbia 1918 |
- 24 November 1918: The Assembly of Syrmia proclaims the secession of Syrmia from the State of Slovenes, Croats and Serbs and unification with the Kingdom of Serbia, thus unifying Belgrade with Zemun in the same state.
- 25 November 1918: The Great people's assembly of Serbs, Bunjevci and other Slavs proclaims the unification of Banat, Bačka and Baranja with the Kingdom of Serbia, thus unifying Belgrade and the settlements on the Danube's left bank in the same state.
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| Kingdom of Yugoslavia 1918–1941 |
- 1 December 1918: Belgrade becomes the capital of the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes. The document was signed at Krsmanović's House at Terazije.
- 28 January [O.S. 15 January] 1919: In order to coordinate the dating in different parts of the newly formed state, the territories of former Serbia and Montenegro adopt Gregorian calendar, which had already been in use in the other parts of the kingdom.
- 1923: Paris–Budapest air line extended to Belgrade.
- 25 March 1927: The first Belgrade airport (Dojno polje Airport) opened.
- 6 January 1929: King Aleksandar Karađorđević dissolved the National Assembly and started his dictatorship. Belgrade becomes the capital of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia.
- 24 March 1929: Radio Belgrade started broadcasting.
- 1 April 1934: Zemun annexed to the City of Belgrade.
- 27 October 1935: The first bridge over the Danube, the Pančevački most (Bridge of Pančevo) is built.
- 11 September 1937: Belgrade Fair opened.
- 20 May 1938: Drying out of the wetland on the Sava's left bank begins, making place for the future New Belgrade.
- 14 December 1939: Leftist students' protests against the government, poverty and war. During the police breakdown of the demonstrations, five to ten protesters are killed (depending on the sources).
- 27 March 1941: Huge protests against joining the Axis.
- 6–8 April 1941: Nazi Germany bombs Belgrade (Operation Retribution). 2,271-4,000 casualties, depending on the sources. Many public and private buildings completely destroyed, including the building of the National Library of Serbia, along with an invaluable collection of books, manuscripts, charters, old maps, journals and many other documents. The Royal Yugoslav Army, while retreating, destroys all the bridges crossing Sava and Danube.
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| Nazi occupation 1941–1944 |
- 12 April 1941: Belgrade is occupied by German forces.
- April 1941-October 1944: Belgrade is occupied and divided. Old part of the city becomes a part of Nazi Germany and the capital of the Territory of the Military Commander in Serbia, governed by puppet Government of National Salvation. The settlements on the Danube's left bank become a part of the Banat autonomous region, formally responsible to the puppet governments in Belgrade, but in practice governed by its Volksdeutsche (ethnic German) minority, while Zemun becomes a part of the Independent State of Croatia. Four concentration camps have operated on the territory of the occupied Belgrade: Sajmište, Banjica, Topovske Šupe, and Milišić's brickyard. Approximately 50,000 people have died in these camps, most of them in Sajmište concentration camp, on the territory controlled by the Independent State of Croatia.
- 1942: The Germans, using forced labour, build Old Sava Bridge.
- April–September 1944: The Allies have bombed Belgrade eleven times. 1,000 - 5,000 civilian casualties, depending on the sources.
- 14 September 1944 – 24 November 1944: Belgrade Offensive by the units of the Soviet Red Army and the Yugoslav Partisans. The main battles in the Belgrade's urban area took place 28 September 1944 – 20 October 1944.
- 20 October 1944: Liberation of Belgrade. Miladin Zarić, an ordinary citizen, saves Old Sava Bridge from demolition, by cutting the detonator wires, making it the only large bridge in Europe, beside Ludendorff Bridge, that the Germans didn't succeed in demolishing while retreating. This way, the Soviet troops manage to cross Sava river and to definitely expel the Germans from the city.
- 22 October 1944: Liberation of Zemun.
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| Communist Yugoslavia 1944–1991 |
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| Serbia and Montenegro 1992–2006 |
- 27 April 1992: Federal Republic of Yugoslavia proclaimed.
- 30 May 1992: The UN Security Council imposed economic embargo on Yugoslavia.
- 31 May 1992: The first multi-party local elections for the representatives in the assemblies of the City and municipalities held.
- 1993 - 24 January 1994: The highest hyperinflation in the history struck Belgrade, bringing many citizens to the limits of existence.
- 7 July 1995: Underground railway station "Vukov spomenik" opened. Similar to the RER of Paris, this is to become the first station of Belgrade Metro.
- 19 November 1996 – 22 March 1997: Mass protests in response to electoral fraud attempted by the regime of Slobodan Milošević after local elections.
- 21 February 1997: The first non-communist city government since 1944, with Zoran Đinđić as the first non-communist Mayor of Belgrade.
- 24 March – 10 June 1999: NATO bombing of Yugoslavia. The buildings of the Government of Serbia, Yugoslav Ministry of Defence building, Radio Television of Serbia, Hotel Jugoslavija, Avala Tower, Batajnica Air Base, Chinese embassy, University Hospital Center Dr Dragiša Mišović, and many other buildings and structures in Belgrade are partly or completely destroyed.
- 5 October 2000: Slobodan Milošević removed from power after huge protests in Belgrade. The House of the National Assembly was set on fire.
- 4 February 2003: Federal Republic of Yugoslavia changed into Serbia and Montenegro.
- 12 March 2003: Serbian Prime Minister Zoran Đinđić is assassinated in front of the Government of Serbia building in Nemanjina Street.
- 21 August 2003: The official opening of the first Belgrade Beer Fest.
- 31 July 2004: Belgrade Arena, one of the largest multifunctional indoor arenas in Europe officially opened
- 10 January 2005: The organization of the 2009 Summer Universiade is awarded to Belgrade.
- February 2006: Belgrade proclaimed City of Future of South Europe by fDi magazine, a Financial Times publication.
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| Independent Serbia 2006–present |
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